Revelation 4: Four Living Creatures

Four Living Creatures

In the Book of Revelation, there is a lot of symbolism and deeper meaning within things said and written. It is not always a quick understanding of things, but when you look deeper and use a study aide, you can understand things better. For instance, I came across Revelation 4:7-8 which speaks of four creatures (lion, ox, man, and eagle) and each of them had 6 wings and eyes all around. That to me sounds like so0mething out of a sci-fi comic book from the mind of Stan Lee and the marvel Universe. But, knowing what I know and having read what I have read from scripture, what is on the surface is not always the answer. You MUST go deeper if you want to understand. The four creatures (according to Dave Guzik's studies @Studylight.org) could be "the cardinal virtues, the faculties and powers of the human soul, the patriarchal churches, the great apostles, the orders of churchmen, the principle angels, and so forth." Also possible are the head tribes of Israel or symbols of Jesus as he is represented in the 4 gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John). No matter what they symbolize and mean, there is one thing that cannot be disputed and that is integral to growth as a church was them all "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!" They spoke in unison and in agreement that the Lord God is Almighty, not maybe but is. They knew who the Lord is and was and knew that He was to come.

PLEASE SEE THE LOGOS AND LINKS BELOW TO SHARE VIA EMAIL, TWITTER, FACEBOOK, PINTEREST AND GOOGLE PLUS. THANKS!

Wednesday Wake Up #3

Unequally Yoked

Being unequally yoked (2 Corinthians 6:14) is deeper than we think. We think it just applies to friend and marriage or dating. Those are ways to associate the meaning, but there is more. Unequally yoked refers to Deuteronomy 22:9 & 10. These verses are just two that outline not meshing together what is not meant to be together. The verses in Deuteronomy were were about planting two seeds in the same vineyard and also not plowing a field with an ox and a donkey. The seeds example can be better explained in Matthew 13:24-30. An enemy comes along and plants weeds in a wheat field to try to ruin the wheat. The weeds represent evil and the wheat represents good. You would not want to grow weeds and you would want to grow wheat. The way a farmer (God) could tell if weeds (evil) were planted among his wheat (Christ followers) was to wait until the harvest (the second coming) and separate the two from one another. 

The example of the ox and the donkey can be explained by simply knowing that an ox (Christ followers) is much stronger than a donkey (unbelievers) and the donkey is also regarding as an unclean animal (it cannot reproduce). The strength of an ox could be held back by the donkey who is not as strong (unbelief).

When we break down "do not be yoked" it really is at its core a warning to stay away from the world's way of thinking, living and being. The world is not joined with God, but we as Christ followers are. I can speak for myself and say that before I really came to know Christ, my words and actions and networks did not match up with my supposed beliefs. Now that I am focused on following Christ, my associations have changed and it is to help me grow with other like minded men and women.

 PLEASE SEE THE LOGOS AND LINKS BELOW TO SHARE THIS VIA EMAIL, TWITTER, FACEBOOK, PINTEREST, AND GOOGLE PLUS. THANKS.